Monthly Archives: August 2015
Serial
Cheesy bumper, vox pops from the cool crowd, over the phone interviews collect from prison, a compelling topic, a conversational narrator, a cheesy bumper that returns as a Motif! Who wouldn’t be socially drugged by this show? Win win! [Cue the bumper music].
Koeng, S and J Snyder (2014) Serial. WBEZ Chicago
* on studio drive and online
http://serialpodcast.org/
“Marrying Out” MEOW!!
From the foley bells, gun shooting, to the dominican rosary bead buckshot assault, Siobhán’s McHugh’s 2009 piece “Marrying Out”, was nothing short of a seminal reminder that history has and will again repeat. It includes didactic reenactments, interviews and prose, which moves the listener rhythmically to a tune without a condo.
I’m not entirely sure why the core doctrine of the Christian faith and their understanding that love and compassion will defy all, emulsified with the words, you’re not one of us, makes the tingles in my spine move in that adverse direction that a cat gets when they’re stroked the wrong way.
The interviews in Siobhan’s documentary were true, harrowing and they all sought to reveal the impact of obstinate institutions, read as though you were in the space with them. It left me wondering, why oh why have those at the pulpit refused to move with the times but rather against them… MEOW? In addition, earing the ancient Gregorian chants on this recording positively confirms this by reminding of similar professorial religions that dictate archaic teachings.
I felt it ironic that the letters read in an off mic tone, resembled purging platitudes not dissimilar of those read in a confessional. The priest gives the blessing “Espírito Santo” in a scratchy low fi intonation that puts us on the outside looking in.
McHugh, Siobhán, (2009) “Marrying Out” Hindsight. ABC Radio National
Under the Bridge Downtown
A potential recording location that interests me is by the Yarra River, north of The Tan in South Yarra. It is under the arch of the Morell Bridge which was built in 1899 but was closed to motor vehicle traffic in the late 1990’s. Being by the Yarra and tucked away in its natural sound baffle, it is a bucolic setting; there are sounds of wildlife, rowers, cyclists, joggers… and barely a hint of the hustle and the bustle of the busy city which is just minutes away.
I ride under this bridge very time I commute to the city, every time I do, I nearly always click my bike gears as I pass underneath it because of its pleasing natural reverberation and slap delay facilitated by its smooth curved parabolic arch on the underside.
I would like to record a musician here, perhaps a solo artist, and produce it dry to get a sense of this sonically organic space.
The Stonnington Council Recording Permission information is at…
Location, Location, Location.
Location, Location, Location.
I’ve decided on a key focus for my next production. Last week I was fixated by the montage inspired by class listening, the week before, it was audio quality in capture and editing, and this week, I really want to immerse myself in relaying location; whether that be communication by means of foley and sound modification or using raw… lesser treated O/B streams of action, I want the listener to be undoubtedly transported to the intended setting…
..by hook or by crook!
Indelible Mental Tattoo
Amy Hanley possesses something that many great artists used to see them through their resounding yet tortured careers; experimentation, fearlessness, freedom of expression, imagination and an oppressive constraint (in this case time).
This audio piece spoke numbers about Amy’s willingness to try new platforms in media, dissecting 20 minutes of CSI style grilling into a montage of an almost unquantifiable amount of unfinished phrases with a topic theme centred around lies and deception. Interwoven were interjections of low fidelity recordings of Amy’s own voice which was recorded separate, subtly parodying mass media’s urge to create, distort and manipulate the facts to benefit their own cause.
Amy’s piece was about, well… it was a romance, it was a tragedy, a bleeding-heart nostalgic tirade, it was a phyco-analysis, a revelation, a coming of age, a tribute to McLuhan’s ‘media being the message’ notion, a colossal car chase scene from Kojak, an unrequited duelling banjos challenge, a story about the person you respect the most, a reality you resent, an ode, a eulogy, and a statement of jest and hyperbole… well, at least I hope they was!
This audio montage was an indelible mental tattoo that has given me the courage to embrace true sonic expressionism.